Friday Five

Our week mainly in picture images......

Our daughter brought us a bouquet of yellow roses with the weekly shopping that she gets for us and I've arranged them in a vase with the last of the sunflowers, lavender and some seed heads from the garden.

Then in the evenings the candles are lit in the front living room bay window.

We bottled some of the pears and we still have many in store that we can eat fresh.

I unpicked a few of the crocheted granny squares that I had been working on, made some more and then arranged them differently.  I've ordered more wool and when it arrives I shall continue with this project.

My Persephone Biannual magazine came in the post.  It's a good read on it's own with many interesting articles and book reviews.  I ordered one of the books on the list, The Persephone Book of Short Stories. It comes with two bookmarks that are the same as the designs on the endpapers in the book. The bookmarks that are included with each book ordered are often taken from relevant period textile and wallpaper designs.  The stories included are by women writers such as Carol Shields, Rosamunde Pilcher, Winifred Holtby, Diana Athill.

We've also been busy with central heating engineer socially distanced mask wearing appointments starting with the annual service and then further visits to sort out a slight problem. Thankfully we can use the central heating which is just as well as the days are getting colder.  It's been bright and dry, but this morning we woke up to the sound of rain beating on the windows and it's still dark outside. 

I hope all is well with you.  Thank you once more for visiting my blog. Wishing you a good weekend and week ahead.

My week

Tulip time in the garden and time to bring out the solar powered garden water feature during this week of sunshine. 

The ''black' parrot tulip bulbs planted in the Autumn are beginning to open their flower heads. Of course, they're not true black, but dark purple.

A box of delights arrived - an Easter gift from son and family.

Another peace lily has flowered. It was one of the baby plants from an original that got re-potted last year brought to us by our Berkshire daughter.

Daughter D and I regularly exchange photos of what is growing in our gardens, by email. Below are the white hyacinths and varieties of tulip blooming in pots in her garden.

This week Daughter D crocheted a mauve shawl with daisy pattern for a Berkshire group. (The pile of blankets is a photo taken from their Facebook page).  There was a call out from them (Wokingham in Need, who in different ways support the homeless and anyone in need) for those who can knit, crochet or sew to make items, especially blankets and shawls.  These items are given to those receiving care in a hospital or a hospice or other setting.

The fig tree is not in leaf, but there is plenty of other greenery in the garden.

Thank you for your visit.  I hope you have a peaceful and safe weekend.

Joining Riitta's Friday Bliss # 84 linkup

P.S. I've noticed that some photos on this blog post uploaded and then were lost overnight so I've had to re-do them. I'm not sure why this is happening.  Older blog posts have the same issue. It's another Blogger technical fault to solve.

A quiet day

I was hoping to wake up to the sight of a bright sunrise as has been the occasion on some days recently, but instead we have had fog (which has now lifted) and rain.  The light level is low, but there are several close work activities to get on with after the usual morning household chores.

On Saturday I went to the library to take books back and borrow others.  I've been reading non fiction books about nature and walking recently as they're books that are informative and I can dip into them.

Our library book group read The Salt Path last month. I was full of admiration that Raynor Winn and her sick husband managed to walk this well-known coastal path, wild camping along the way after they had found themselves homeless.  It touched me on the endurance of the spirit in the face of adversity as well as attitudes to homelessness. There are some wonderful descriptions of the natural world by the coast as well as the stories of coping with the rough weather, the author's husband's ill health and the lack of money to buy basic items we usually take for granted. 

The Apple Orchard - Pete Brown

The Running Hare: The Secret Life of Farmland 

- John Lewis-Stempel

The Salt Path - Raynor Winn

The book that I reserved and picked up from the library that I'm now reading is The Single Thread written by Tracy Chevalier, an author I enjoy.  So far I've read eight chapters and I'm finding it one of those books that's quiet and thought-provoking at the same time. 

The dust cover  says -   'It is 1832 and the losses of the First World War are still keenly felt.  Violet Speedwell, mourning for both her fiancé and her brother  and regarded by society as a 'surplus woman' unlikely to marry, resolves to escape her suffocating mother and strike out on her own. 

A new life awaits her in Winchester.  Yes, it is one of draughty boarding houses and sidelong glances at her naked ring finger from younger colleagues, but it is also a life gleaming with independence and opportunity.  Violet falls in with the broderers, a disparate group of women charged with embroidering kneelers for the Cathedral, and is soon entwined in their lives and their secrets.  As the almost unthinkable threat of a second Great War appears on the horizon Violet collects a few secrets of her own that could just change everything....'

Other indoor activities I have planned on rainy days such as today are crocheting and sewing. (I will complete the double bedspread soon and will definitely stop as we get into the Christmas prep period). I brought the tapestry back last year from a trip to Italy. It was something I was working on there and I should finish it.  I'm making up the pattern but using the instruction book to learn some of the stitches.

The light has improved a little if I sit by the window and I have some mending to do.

Friday Bliss # 43

Today, I'm focusing on a little corner of the garden where I've been sitting in the sunshine. The weather has been wonderful and fortunately not too hot so I've appreciated being able to get out into the garden.

The rose 'Happy Anniversary' is appropriately

beginning to bloom, a little late this year, but beautiful

nevertheless. 

A hosta has produced a flower for the first time.

I'm delighted to see this agapanthus thriving and putting out flowers as the original plant was brought up to Yorkshire from my late mother's garden and planted in our daughter's garden.  She divided it last year and gave me a plant which has been in a pot in the covered yard for many months.  Now I've moved some of these pot plants outside for the Summer.

The white delphinium 'Guardian White' hasn't been so happy with the warm weather, but the sunflowers, of  course, love the sunshine. (Sunflower 'Valentine')

These wild flowers come up in the raised bed every year, 

some sort of bell flower and miniature allium.

alpine dianthus 'Fire Star'

The marigold plants (calendula 'Fiesta Gitana') planted in the veg plot

 are supposed to deter garden pests and they also look pretty. 

 Strawberries and cherry tomatoes are a treat.

Of course the plants and especially the tomatoes and veg plot need watering.  I hear that it's extremely hot in Italy.

The broad beans are filling out and almost ready to pick.

Friday Bliss linkup